


Artemis

by luna_ren_creations



Category: Original Work
Genre: Cyberpunk, F/M, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-01-23 23:17:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21328309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luna_ren_creations/pseuds/luna_ren_creations
Summary: Aura awoke from a horrible crash with no name, no memories, no past. Now, with a new name, new purpose and cybernetically enhanced body, she hunts down crime as part of a special ops organization called Artemis. When the country falls under risk though, Aura's past comes to light and she quickly learns that there's so much more to her past than she thought.
Relationships: aura x kairo, aura x pandora, aura x titania, mira x kairo





	1. Chapter 1

PROLOGUE

Drizzly rain streamed down from the sky, making the night very misty and damp, against the neon backdrop of the metropolis. In a back alleyway, a middle aged gentleman stumbled out of the back door of a low brow gambling den, clearly drunk. He brazenly laughed at something his comrade had said from inside, before the metal door cleaned shut behind him. Cursing amused to himself, the man fumbled through his pockets for a lighter to give life to the ramp cigarette dangling from his lips. Just as the flame ignited, slow, rhythmic footsteps approached from behind. The man was either too drunk to notice or hear anything until it was too late. As he took a long drag from the cigarette, an energy blaster discharged three times, sending the drunken man to his knees, and then face. The footsteps rounded the body, crushing the still lit cigarette under their boot. Without a single word, the figure, shrouded by Cape and hood, disappeared into the mist. 

********

" _ Wait, don't open your eyes yet!"  _

_ "Come on, I can't take the suspense…"  _

_ "Okay, open 'em."  _

_ "I-It's beautiful…"  _

_ "The car!! Watch out!!" _

Aura sat straight up in her bed, her breath catching in the back of her throat. The screaming, glass shattering… Who were those voices? Were they memories? Glitches? When Aura became Aura, 3 years ago, she knew her memory had been destroyed,along with most of her physical body. The person she used to be was gone, not even the biotechs knew her original identity. She was given a number - 40917- until one woman came to visit her, offering to give her a new life, a new name, a new purpose. What other option did she have? No one, not even herself knew who she had been, before her body had been destroyed. She had been clinically dead for 25 minutes, pretty near destroying her brain, but somehow they were able to pull her through… well, most of her. And Aura was okay with that. It was like she had been reborn. Clean slate, no ties, no memories. And for 3 whole years, it was enough. Aura left the restoration facility with the woman who had offered her a whole new life, Kyoko and joined a secret special ops organization known as Artemis. They hunted and took down criminals, from basic hackers to straight up murderers. Aura was part of the division of specialized agents called Scarlett Raven, made up of herself, and 2 other cybernetically enhanced females - Pandora and Titania. Pandora was ex Militia, nearly blown to pieces by an AOD and Titania was Kyoko’s baby sister, a member of Artemis since she was a preteen. It was home to Aura, all she really knew, until about 2 months ago, when her ‘glitches’ began happening. Fragmented memories of a past she didn’t know. Questions she had never had before began to surface. Who was she? Had she been someone important? Had she had parents? Friends? A mate? Children? It started scaring her that these questions were virtually un-answerable. The result? Confusing glitch dreams and losing sleep. Aura’s past though, who she once was suddenly comes into play, while the entire country falls at risk.

  
  
  



	2. ARTEMIS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aura's glitches continue and she finds solace in talking with a teammate.   
We meet another integral character.

Aura sat straight up in her bunk again for the third night in a row. At this rate, she’d be completely useless on the job. While she was about 85% machine, she did still need to rest like normal humans, though the chances of actually getting a good rest in seemed to be happening fewer and far between than usual. 

“It’s these damned dreams.” She sighed to herself, getting up, knowing full well that she'd never get back to sleep again. It was still the dead of night, but that meant nothing to Artemis. They were open 24/7, constantly on the hunt for cyber-crime, hackers, trouble makers, black market enhancers, traders, you name it. Artemis was funded by the government, but virtually no one knew they actually existed. It was sort of a spy organization in a way, but Aura didn’t feel like a spy. 90% of the time, she didn’t know what she felt like, just like someone taking orders. Changing into a pair of black loose cargo pants and a grey tank top, Aura left her room, resorting to merely plodding down the hall until something struck her interest. She needed to do something to dispel the fuzzy images in her mind that made absolutely no sense to her. It was as if something was being shown to her, but wildly out of focus. The same voice was always in her dreams. Why it was familiar to her, she had no idea. But it scared her. Who was the person? Did they mean something to her? Were they still alive? A few fellow agents recognized her in passing and nodded their greetings, but Aura just kept her eyes facing forward. Nothing escaped her notice though, she just didn’t particularly care. With some of the finest biotech holding her upright, it definitely took her some time to get used to her new body, but 3 years in and she was pretty well back to normal. Whatever normal was before the accident. The accident… All she was told was 3 years ago, she was pulled from a fiery car wreck, barely alive and badly injured. She remembered fragments of the accident, sounds mostly. Screaming, glass shattering, someone crying her name… whether they were glitches or not, she didn’t know. When Aura finally stopped waking, she was in the base’s main atrium. Almost every inch of the floor was full of computers, scanners, every kind of high caliber crime fighting technology at their disposal. Most all the agents on the main floor had gone off duty, and only a few remained, drinking some pretty strong coffee from the smell of it. Aura scanned the room, her eyes settling on one familiar figure. Sitting with her feet up on the dash of the computer system along the back wall, was Pandora, a fellow Artemis and Scarlett Raven member. She appeared to have headphones on and was scanning streams of data scrolling upwards on the large screen in front of her. Aura debated leaving her be, but rounded the chair anyway and leaned up against the wall next to the computer. Pandora’s one eye flicked over to her as she bit down on whatever crunchy snack was in her mouth, from the bag sitting on the desk. 

“What’s up? Trouble?” She asked, removing her headset, letting it hang around her neck, loud rock music blasting from it. Her violet eyes snapped alertly. Aura shook her head and bowed her head.

“Just… wandering.” She shrugged. Pandora removed her feet from the dash and closed whatever data program she was watching.

“Dreams again?” She wondered. Pandora was the only one Aura had told about her strange fragmented dreams and visions. Even though her comrade was as lost as she was as to why they were happening, she proved a listening ear and would take her secret to the grave if she so wanted. Aura was afraid if she let even Kyok8o know what was happening to her, she’d be sent for a bunch of tests and calibrations. The flip side to that was an all out quest to figure out who she used to be, but Aura just wasn’t that selfish. Aura nodded slowly.

“Just the same voice. I don’t know who it is.” She lamented, softly. She felt this ache in the pit of her body, like she should feel pain, but she didn’t know why. 

“Is it a man or a woman?” Pandora asked, calmly. 

“I don’t know. I can’t tell. It’s sort of like the person is talking to me through a drain pipe. Pandora turned off her music. 

“That’s gotta be annoying. Either you remember your past or you don’t. It sucks when you’re stuck in between. Maybe everything will come back one day. Isn’t that how amnesia works?” Pandora wondered. 

“Maybe. I really don’t know. I’d love to know why I keep dreaming about a hazy version of someone I think I used to know… but I also worry if maybe it’s just a glitch and it’s not real… or if the person is even alive anymore. It just… it makes me feel weird, here.” Aura pressed her palm to her chest. Pandora paused.

“Maybe it is better not to ever know why. Sometimes I wish I had no memory of my past. Maybe it would be confusing like it is for you, but at least you wouldn’t know the difference... or suffer.” Pandora’s voice got soft. Aura stood straight. Pandora had been in the Militia since a teenager with her twin brother. They’d been with their squad, in charge of a bomb disposal, but their plan had backfired. The device went off, killing everyone in the squad and severely injuring Pandora. She’d been cybernetically repaired, a lot like Aura had been, but her memory was intact. Aura knew she still blamed herself for that day and mourned her teammates and twin. It wasn’t her fault by any means, but telling someone that didn’t change anything. Aura praised, feeling bad for her teammate. Memories could scar you for sure and she honestly could say Pandora had more than enough reason to wish her memory had been destroyed like Aura's had, but Aura still secretly wished she could have swapped places with her. At least with memories, you had a past to cling to. All Aura had were ghosts of an unknown past. She cast her gaze to the ground, unsure of what to say next, when Pandora stood and stretched her arms over her head. 

"Since neither of us can seem to get some shut eye, wanna grab some coffee?" She asked. Aura looked up. 

"What kind of coffee shop would be open this late?" She answered. Pandora just smirked. 

"I know places." Agreeing to join her friend to a late night cup of d streaming caffeinated liquid to drown her sorrows in seemed enticing, so Aura agreed, following Pandora town the brightly lit streets, even in the middle of the night. Lo and behold, only blocks away from their base of operations where the girls and several other agents stayed full time, was a 24 hour coffee shop perfect for a couple of insomniacs like themselves. It wasn't full in the slightest, just a few single persons huddled away in booths far inside the building. After being served two large streaming cups of some kind of fancy caffeinated beverage Pandora ordered for the both of them, declaring it would be the best thing she'd ever tasted, they took to a lonely booth near the large window. Pandora sighed as she took a long sip from her drink.

“Looks like another rainy night.” She mused, half to herself. Aura wrapped her hands around the warm cup, staring into it’s dark contents. She was never one for small talk, it was just a huge waste of time in her eyes… but maybe she used to enjoy small talk. She’d never know.

“God, come out of it, Aura.” She mentally ordered herself. Her confusing dreams about an unknown past were one thing, but sulking about it and making it into a huge thing was another. She was an Artemis agent now. That’s who she was. In the grand scheme of things, who she used to be was unimportant. She found herself closing her eyes though, feeling the steam of the warm drink waft up towards her face. In her mind’s eye, she suddenly saw, very clearly, the smiling, loving emerald green eyes of...somebody. Somebody she knew. The ache in the pit of her chest returned and she clutched at the chain around her neck, her eyes flying open.

“What’s wrong?” Pandora demanded, slightly alarmed at Aura’s sudden episode. And just like that, the image was gone. The silver ring that hung from the chain around her neck, danced against her collarbone a few times, before laying still against it, Aura pinching her eyes shut and knocking back a good half of her coffee, as if it were a shot of something a hell of a lot stronger. Aura had no idea where the ring came from or what it meant to her, she had just woken up with it as one of her personal effects. It was nice, intricately engraved with designs that of a motherboard, but as to its significance, Aura hadn’t a clue. She also couldn’t seem to part with it either, it being the only tether to her past, something she couldn’t quite grasp. And that vision just then, had been the closest the significance of it had come to her. The person with the green eyes. Had they given it to her? Pandora reached across the table and laid her hand on top of Aura’s.

“Hey. It’ll be okay.” She assured, gently. Aura nodded methodically and tried to ignore the fact that anything had even happened.

“Of course it will. The dawn will come, I’ll move on, get back to work. Everything will return to normal.” She replied, though mostly telling that all to herself, more than her teammate. Pandora paused.

“Everyone deserves to know who they are. Or were. I don’t believe it’s impossible to figure yours out and one day, we’ll do just that. If it’s what you want, you can bet I’ll be behind you, 100%.” Aura felt a flicker of a smile ghost across her face.

“Thank you.” She nodded, though truth be told, she wasn’t even completely sure she wanted to know the truth of it all.

***********

_ “Open your eyes…” A soft giggle reached his ears as it roused him from the clutches of sleep. He felt a pair of delicate fingers gently brush the hair away from his closed eyes, a hand caressing the side of his face. Finally opening his eyes, he smiled at the beautiful woman facing him.  _

_ “Good morning.” She whispered, leaning close to brush her lips against his. _

_ “Good morning, my love.” He replied, pulling her close to him in a loving embrace, burying his face in her hair. Even first thing in the morning, her vibrant red locks smelled of wildflowers. _

His alarm sounded, making him wake up with a start to a cloudy, rainy, miserable morning. Sitting up, with his knees drawn up, he ran his hands through his long, silver hair, pinching his eyes shut and trying to erase the memory from the forefront of his mind. That same bed he’d just been waking up next to her in. Three years really snuck by you sometimes. Especially when you wished every day that the one you loved was still there. Kairo refused to cry though, he’d spent nearly 2 years of his life crying. The pain was still there, but it was a pain he’d thrown into his work. He knew he would always love her, but he had to face facts. As much as he loved, missed and dreamt about her, she was still just...gone. Was it fair that he woke up in the hospital learning he was the only survivor of the two in the car wreck? No, not in the slightest. Did he sometimes wish to fall asleep and never wake up again? Yeah, sure. But after two years of mourning, having mental breakdown after breakdown, Kairo finally just threw all his sorrow into his work, finally creating his first fully AI project, his now assistant he called AJ. She was his pride and joy and he treated her like a daughter. The daughter he’d never had, or would have. Kairo knew there were other women out there, but as far as he was concerned, without her, there was no one else on the planet that would replace her. AJ was initially a weak attempt at him trying, until he realized she was so much more. She was his creation. Kairo finally got up, showered and trudged to the kitchen for coffee to make him feel at least somewhat alive. He grabbed a mug and as he was about to fill it, his eyes landed on the calendar on the wall. The mug slipped from his grasp and crashed to the floor. How could he have not realized? Immediately all resolve flew out the window and Kairo fell to his knees, amongst the broken pieces of coffee mug.

_ “The Car! Watch out! Get over!!” He heard her scream as the other car ploughed right into them, sending glass shattering, metal grinding… her scream. It was the last thing he heard. _

_ “I’m sorry, sir. You were the sole survivor of the crash. The on site crew never even found a trace of another body once the wreck went up in flames…”  _

Kairo’s chest heaved as he tried to breathe.

“What happened?!” AJ cried, running into the kitchen to see what all the commotion was about. She saw Kairo’s state and paused, before realizing. AJ knew all about her. Telling her old stories as they worked together, or even as he worked on AJ herself, was sort of a form of therapy for Kairo. AJ knew full well what this day was. Though she was fully android and couldn’t process human emotion the same way, she still knew how her creator had to be feeling. She knelt beside him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, as the shaky sobs escaped his lips. 

“Sh-she’s gone…” He wept, burying his face in his hands as tears poured down his cheeks.

“I know. I’m sorry.”


	3. GLITCHES

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kairo and AJ begin their work day with only minimal violence.  
Aura makes a shocking and frightening discovery  
The plot thickens.

Kairo sometimes felt like he was stuck in a time loop. Waking, working, occasionally eating and sleeping. The lab had been busy as it normally was and Kairo together with AJ was working on a new neural implant design for the market. It was delicate, painstaking type work but Kairo was more than happy to sit in silence and tinker. When Mira, his wife was alive, they were a dynamic duo in the world of cyber tech. They'd met at a convention when they were both fresh out of the academy. She was a vision, and whip smart to boot. Kairo was in love. They ended up being accepted to the same company Kairo still worked for and it just took off from there. Mira was so passionate about her work, all she wanted to do was help people. The company they worked for, Alpha Synthetics was a huge shareholder in the country’s industry, big in the market of bio mechanical upgrades and replacements. Their head,  **Takahashi Iida ** had been in the business since his late teens, the company passed down to him from his father, grandfather and so forth. Kairo shared the same mindset as his wife did, he wanted to create things that could potentially help people. Now, he just worked away at a project to keep from going insane. Since AJ had been completed, he felt like he was in a rut. The company hadn’t overly approved of his work on AJ, but he was stubborn about it, to the point of even threatening to quit. To be fair though, he couldn’t quit. It was the last piece of Mira he had. That building, the lab they used to share, now just dark storage space untouched in 3 long years. His fellow co workers liked to dog on him about AJ though, believing her to be some kind of ‘pleasure robot’, or slave or something stupid. That morning was no different, as Kairo trudged into the building, AJ following close behind with an armful of boxes containing unfinished bits of his work.

“Mornin’ Kai. See your shadow angel is doing well.” One fellow tech teased, with an all too flirtatious wink in AJ’s direction.

“Shut up, Jon.” Kairo shot back, without missing a beat as he slugged back a good amount of coffee.

“What’s the matter? Just because you treat her like a rented donkey doesn’t mean she’s any less sexy… and available.” Jon smirked, licking his lips seductively as his eyes roamed AJ’s slender figure. Kairo roughly threw his empty coffee cup into the trash and a millisecond later, had Jon pinned against the wall by the throat, his green eyes snapping with anger.

“Say that again. I dare you.” He threatened, through clenched teeth. 

“W-woah man… I was j-just teasing!” Jon choked, holding his hands up in defense. Kairo’s eyes narrowed at the scum and contemplated just letting him pass out from his strong choke hold he had on him. How dare this insolent worm hit on his AJ. His creation? How dare he say such things? She wasn’t sexy, or a slave, or  _ available  _ … She was a testimony to his work. She was what dragged him out of the pits of hell he was in after Mira’s death. She was… like his daughter. Jon seemed to be succumbing quickly as he writhed at the grip Kairo had on him and his eyes started to roll back in his head.

“Kairo!” A voice shook him from his rage induced gaze. He stumbled backwards, having swore he heard Mira’s voice, but it was AJ who pulled the two men apart, her pale blue eyes snapping furiously. 

“Sir, please!” She begged, watching his metallic replacement of a left arm tremble, as he closed his fist. Jon, now coughing on the floor like a pathetic joker, trying to regain his breath, let out a merciless chuckle.

“You even have her calling you sir…” He added. That’s when Kairo punched him square in the jaw. AJ of course didn’t approve, but what did she know? She was an android.

“Mira never liked violence.” He was reminded, once they reached the lab and got to work. 

“Mira’s gone…” The truth never failed to hit him like a ton of bricks. As he began his day by repairing the wrist joint on his metallic arm he used to deck that Jon guy, he couldn’t help but let his mind drift to that awful day. His left arm had been unrepairable, he woke up missing a limb and being told his wife and the love of his entire goddamn life was gone. He was offered some of the best cyber tech replacements for his arm, even from his own company, but he refused, using his own resources to construct one himself. It was clunky and quite automail like, but he’d made it that way for a reason. A reminder. Something streamlined and sleek would just shroud everything. The pain, the grief, the loss. His arm stood as a reminder that nothing would ever be the same again. 

“Kairo?” AJ’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Mm?” He replied, without looking up. AJ set down her piece she was working on and folded her hands.

“Why do the other techs think I am some kind of …” AJ couldn’t find the right word in her database. Kairo met her gaze.

“Trophy?” He suggested.

“Maybe? Why am I so different from the other  scientists and techs here?” She wondered. Kairo sighed.

“Because most of them are men and they see you with me everywhere and you’re young and beautiful, not to mention an android, which most of these scum want to do… not decent things to because they think they can. It’s a sick world we live in, Aje. But remember you do not belong to anybody, and nobody can treat you like that. Android or not, you’re still a person and deserve respect. Besides, any creation of mine pretty much demands it. And you’re the greatest of them all.” He explained, with a gentle smile. She returned it and shyly looked down.

“Thank you.” 

*************

When Aura finally felt herself again, she had worked out, showered and  _ tried  _ to have a bit of a power nap before she was summoned to the briefing room later that afternoon. Actually glad that a new mission was on the horizon, something to actually distract her from the whirling turmoil inside her foggy mind, she rushed over as soon as she could. Artemis ran out of 5 main buildings on acres of property in the downtown core. Most of Artemis were special covert ops, working in tandem with the police, government agents and the militia. Scarlet Raven was special in all its own, that the girls had almost zero ties to their co workers in connection with the government, but were in a sense, vigilantes, but approved vigilantes. Often it was Scarlet Raven who were the first on a job, leaving the other folks to clean up afterwards. Aura likened her job to one of a phantom. And she was okay with that. Especially as of late, when that’s what she felt like.

“Glitches. Just dumb glitches.” She tried to convince herself over and over again. It was her only way to maintain a shred of her piece of mind. What she didn't know at the time was they weren't glitches at all. And that something was about to come out of left field that would change her entire sense of reality. Kyoko entered the briefing room and paused. 

"Girls, this job is a little different. Do any of you recognize the name  **Takahashi Iida?" ** She began. Aura perked at the mere mention of the name. Of course. Mr. Takahashi was the head of Aloha Synthetics. 

"Isn't he some corporate big wig?" Pandora asked, not sounding super interested. 

"Alpha Synthetics. That's right. A lot of his products have been used in every one of you. Last night, he was murdered. His body was found in a back alley downtown out back of the Pink Fern gambling house and bar." Kyoko went on. Titania gasped. 

"What would a multimillionaire business man be doing on that end of the city?" She wondered aloud. Why indeed? That edge of the city was known for its crime, its drug cartels, basically a hot spot for anybody in their profession to take down bad guys. Kyoko sat at the head of the table. 

“That’s what we’re going to find out. I suspect something fishy may have been going on with Mr. Takahashi long before his demise. I’ve reached out to one of his labs in the city and hope to recruit one individual to aid us in our mission. We don’t know where this job will take us and nobody knows Alpha Synthetics like him.”

“It’s a him? I thought you couldn’t be part of our crew unless you had the right equipment, know what I mean?” Pandora joked, jabbing Titania in the ribs. The younger snickered and Kyoko just rolled her eyes.

“Everybody knows what you mean, Dora.” She sighed. 

“You were saying, Kyoko?” Aura tried to get everyone back on track. Kyoko turned to the screen behind them and pressed a remote button. A very handsome man in his late twenties covered the screen, dressed in a long grey lab coat with dark cargo jeans and a black tank top. His hair was shoulder length, a silvery grey and was pulled back into a messy ponytail. 

“Damn…” Pandora murmured under her breath.

“This is Dr. Kairo Kojima, one of Alpha’s best cybertechs. If all goes according to plan, he’ll be joining us and hopefully providing some intel on Alpha itself and possibly why his business head would be in such an odd part of the city for a CEO.” Aura suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe. She stared at the photograph of Dr. Kojima and felt almost drawn to him. Like she knew him. His emerald gaze was piercing, even through a tv screen.

_ Kairo Kojima… do you take Mira Hoshi to be your lawful wedded wife?”  _

What was that? Who was Mira? Aura felt her heart begin to race and she felt almost nauseous. 

_ I do _

Aura’s hand went to her throat where the ring on the chain lay against her collarbone. Those eyes. Those green eyes… she’d seen them before. In her dreams, in her visions. Those were the same beautiful eyes...

“Who is he? Who am I?” She thought, her mind suddenly reeling. 

“Glitches, they’re nothing.” She told herself sternly, trying to bring herself out of a panic attack. But if they were glitches, why would the image of a random cybertechnician trigger her so deeply. And more importantly, who the hell was Mira?! Aura had to get out of there. As she stood, she heard screams in her mind, glass shattering, metal crunching.

“ _ Mira _ !!” The same voice shouted her name. It was her nightmare. Panting heavily, she backed towards the door, raising the attention of her other teammates.

“Aura? You good?” Pandora asked, rising as well. 

“No…” Aura choked, before turning and running out of the room. She ran all the way to the railed off rooftop of the building, afternoon clouds gently rolling in on a breeze. Choking back terrified sobs, she bent over the railing, feeling the tears pour from her still human right eye. Her left had been destroyed, leaving her with an impressive replacement that could see x ray, infrared and gamma rays. She sometimes wished it matched her regular eye colour of light violet, but red would have to suffice. It got the job done. She pinched her eyes shut, only seeing the doctor’s face and wondering how in the world they connected. They clearly had a connection and though the truth was there, Aura just couldn’t accept that to be memory. She had no memory. Her mind had to be playing tricks on her.

“But what if it isn’t?” She wondered. Maybe she used to be this Mira person. Maybe the doctor was her husband. 

“No. No way.” She decided. It was too much.

“Hey. There you are.” A familiar voice made her spin around. Kyoko climbed the last few steps to the roof. Aura sighed.

“I’m sorry about all that. I just…” Kyoko held up a hand to stop her.

“Pandora told me about your ‘glitches’ I guess you call them.” She finished. Aura chewed on her bottom lip.

“I’m fine, I’m still functional to perform my job to the best of my abilities.” She assured her friend. 

“That may be so, but I still think you should stop by the lab before this ship really sets sail, just to make sure everything is up to par. And Aura, it may be your actual memories coming through. Maybe Dr. Kojima meant something to you once. I don’t know. It’s not a crime to try and regain your lost memories, if at all possible. Just don’t be afraid. Your memories made you and make you who you are. Don’t run from the past if it’s trying to catch up with you. You might find something amazing.” Kyoko explained, kindly. Aura let out another sigh and looked out over the city skyline.

“I just wish … I knew. Or didn’t know. Instead of being stuck in this limbo of not knowing what’s real, what’s made up, what’s fantasy, reality…” She caught herself.

“But I’ll be fine. I always pull through.”

“Yes you do.” As Aura left the rooftop, Kyoko’s earpiece chimed. She pressed the button on the outside.

“Yes Sir?” She answered.

“I think it’s dangerous bringing in Kojima.” 

“He seems like a reputable source…”

“I mean what he’ll have access to. We can’t have him discovering the truth about Aura.”

“So they do have a connection. Aura’s already figured that out to some extent.”

“Watch him closely. Don’t let him uncover the truth of what happened to Mira Hoshi.”

“Understood, sir.”


	4. FRAGMENTED

FRAGMENTED

Aura tried to be patient with the techs fussing over her like an injured toaster as they ran some several dozen workups and tests on her. 

“Well? Am I going to live?” She halfheartedly asked, once she was allowed to sit back up and close her cerebral access port, to which the cables running her diagnostics had been attached. 

“O-of course, ma’am. You’re in 100% tip top shape by our standards.” A young freckled student tech replied, examining the tablet in front of him. Aura wasn’t exactly pleased about that answer. There was nothing wrong with her.

_ But there was…  _

“Nothing? There’s no glitches, no sign of hacking or attempt to?” Aura pressed. The boy paused.

“A few small glitches. Mostly just echoes.” He admitted. Aura fixed her gaze on him.

“That’s not 100%. That’s not what you told me.” Her tone was getting impatient, as she stood up, folding her arms across her chest.

“I-it really is nothing. It doesn’t even flag our sensors unless we specifically look for them. There’s no real way to correct them, they’re just echoes. Background noise of who you used to be.” 

_ Damn it.  _ So it was true. At least if Aura had a legit excuse as to why these dreams and visions were happening, something that could be fixed with a simple tune-up, she wouldn’t feel this impending sense of dread. Aura had gone into war zones and dozens of life or death scenarios unaffected, but this scared her. 

_ “So Dr. Kojima then…”  _ She thought, immediately her chest tightening.

“ _ Maybe he has the answers. _ ” The answers to questions she wasn’t sure she knew she wanted to know. 

“Will they go away?” Aura wondered, her tone growing softer.

“Sometimes they do. But honestly, ma’am you’re kind of a special case altogether. W-we don’t really see many who have no memory of their past. Maybe it’s your fragmented memories trying to find their way back together into your cyber brain. It’s kind of like a Fabergé egg, shattering on the floor.” Aura failed to see the metaphor, but she had to accept what was. There wasn’t much she could do about it now, they had a job to prepare for.

“And maybe I’ll ask this Dr. Kojima guy if he recognizes me.” Aura only half told herself with some sense of determination as she walked out of the lab.

**************

“You’re sending me where?” Kairo asked, standing in his boss’ office. Word came in later that day that the CEO of the company had been murdered the night before and suddenly some top secret government agency wanted him to join their mission to solve his case? Why him? 

“They’ve personally requested you, given your time and your expertise with the company.” Abiko Toji, the head of Kairo’s department explained. Kairo paced the room, AJ calmly watching him from the nearby couch.

“Is this because I punched Jon this morning, because he totally had it coming… I-” 

Mr. Abiko raised a hand to silence him.

“Kojima. It’s been 4 years since Mira passed.” Kairo clenched his jaw and folded his arms tight.

“Don’t…” He gruffly begged, looking away.

“I’m no expert on dealing with grief, but after you finished Miss AJ here, you’ve been… declining. You think some of the other techs haven’t noticed you showing up to work reeking of liquor?” Kairo’s bloodshot green eyes looked up. All Abiko saw was the shell of a man who’d lost everything to him. Mira definitely was an angel and it hit everybody hard when she passed. His eyes fell to his wedding band he wore on a chain around his neck. He’d finally had the courage to take it off last year, but parting with it was out of the question. 

“This might be the chance to do something new, to help out some of our country’s finest agents. I’d say do it for your company’s namesake, but instead, do it for you. Do it for Mira. Think about what she’d say to you if she were here.” Kairo returned to his office silently, AJ on his heels. He sat at his desk and cradled his head in his hands.

“Do you need anything, sir?” AJ wondered, softly. He let out a slow breath and ran his hands down his face. His facial hair he realized was coming in already, even though he felt like he’d shaved only that morning. 

“Some coffee would be amazing, Aje. Thank you.” He sighed. His beautiful creation nodded eagerly, hoping maybe his favourite drink would bring him some comfort. Once she left the room, Kairo’s eyes fell on the photo hologram on his desk of he and Mira on their wedding day. He picked up the small device and scrolled the hologram back to replay the moment.

_ “Okay smile!”  _ The photographer called. Once the photos were taken, Mira faced him and laughed.

_ “Can we go inside now? I haven’t eaten all day just to get into this thing.”  _ She asked.

“ _ Of course. Let’s go eat.”  _ Kairo replied, waving the photographer away for the time being, before the memory captured a small but loving kiss between the couple, before fading back to the original photo. Tears pooled in Kairo’s eyes, as he regarded his wife’s cheerful face smiling into the camera. Hearing her laugh, even through a memory was the most beautiful thing in the world. Resting his arms on his desk, he laid down his head and closed his eyes.

“Kai?” A familiar voice roused him. He felt a pair of slender arms wrap around his shoulders and looked up to see

“Mira?” He asked, in disbelief. She was there. In front of him. He stood, agape in shock.

“Mi...Is it you?” His voice broke, as he reached out to gently caress her face. She smiled and leaned into the touch. A shaky sob escaped his lips as Kairo threw his arms around her and held her tight. She hugged him back, resting her head on his shoulder.

“God… I-I thought I lost you…” He wept, burying his face in her hair.

“You did, babe.” Her gentle voice made him step back. She smiled softly, tucking a loose strand of her red hair behind her ear. 

“I died 4 years ago. I’m just a memory. But that’s ok. I’ll always live on in your heart.” She explained, softly.

“Mira no…” Kairo begged, reaching for her again. She hugged him one last time.

“I-I can’t live without you.” He sobbed. She rubbed his back soothingly.

“Yes you can, Kai. I know you can. I’ll be okay, and you will too. Alright?” She touched the side of his face as he lifted his head and offered a slight nod. A sad smile flickered across Mira’s face as she pressed a kiss to his forehead.

“I love you.”

“I love you too… so much.” Kairo replied, as Mira’s figure faded away from before him.

Kairo woke up at his desk, his cheeks wet with tears.

“A dream. Figures.” He thought. But what Mira had said resonated with him. Maybe it was a dream, but… maybe Mira had actually come to see him? From heaven? Kairo turned his eyes upward, envisioning Mira watching over him from heaven. It made him only want to cry harder. 

“I’ve got your coffee.” AJ’s voice broke him out of his daze. Her eyes creased with sympathy at the sight of his tear stained face.

“Thanks, kid.” He offered a small smile, as he took his drink from her outstretched hand.

“Are you going to be ok?” She wondered, perching on the corner of his desk. Out of the corner of his eye, Kairo saw his wedding hologram again and Mira.

“I think so.”


	5. REMEMBER YOU

**REMEMBER YOU**

Despite balking at the assignment initially and having just an overall bad as hell day, Kairo still found himself pouring over the server files on Takakashi Iida that his boss has provided him with, for the next 12 hours until he was to be picked up at his apartment and taken to the agency’s headquarters. Artemis, they were called and the unit he would be working with were known as the Scarlet Ravens. AJ tried to get Kairo to get some rest, but he had to keep his mind busy. Especially that night. Alone to his thoughts was a very bad idea and he knew it. Most everything about the CEO of Alpha Synthetics he knew already, but what confused him, as well as most of everybody else is why he was in such a rough part of town, so late. Local authorities had already searched the Pink Fern, his last known location and accessed the feeds of every single patron there, the night of the murder, had begun combing through footage, but had virtually come up with zero leads. Kairo knew the company was trying to get in with a few other buyers to mainstream the technology worldwide, but again it led him back to why he would be out there in the darkest part of the city. Was he involved in something shady? It was possible, lots of corporate guys went that route. He wasn’t too sure what these Artemis people expected of him, other than his knowledge of the mechanics themselves, he was just a biotech. When the car came to pick him up the next day, he honestly didn’t think he’d be much help at all.

**********************

Aura tried to sleep that night, but she knew that was a lost cause.

_ they’re just echoes. Background noise of who you used to be. _

_ “Who I used to be…”  _ Aura thought, sitting on the edge of her bunk and examining her forearms and hands with her x-ray capable eyes. The one was fully bionic, while her surviving eye merely underwent an implant upgrade. She saw clearly the inner workings of her hands, every wire, every piece of metal. She flexed her fingers slowly, watching the bionic joints move with the commands from her cybernetic brain. She was told when she was rescued, she had already lost a third of her brain function. That third was made up by cyber-tech and even then it was a miracle she had survived. Her original was still there somewhere, fully integrated with machinery now. Most of her body had been destroyed beyond repair in the crash, her one eye one of the few survivors. Who she used to be. That may as well have been somebody completely different from her. Her original body was toast, she’d been given a new body, completely cybernetic and her eye, surviving internal organs - including what was left of her brain - were integrated into this new body. Aura had no idea what she looked like in her past life. She had no idea what her own face looked like, what colour her hair was, how tall she was, nothing. It was torture having those echoes and knowing that Dr. Kojima somehow played into it all. She considered doing her own search on him and seeing if that triggered anything, but quite frankly, she was far too scared to do such a thing. Sighing, she ran a hand through her chin length blue hair and flopped back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. 

_ “Who am I?”  _ She couldn’t help but wonder, as miraculously, she fell asleep. 

**************

Kairo tried to keep a level head as he and AJ were escorted into the Artemis HQ. AJ was fascinated by the facility, it being higher class than where she went every day. Agents bustled to and fro about their business and one woman, dressed very smartly in a red dress with a pencil skirt nodded them over.

“Dr. Kojima I presume. I am Ejiri Kyoko, head of Scarlet Raven. Thank you so much for coming.” Her voice was cheerful and bubbly, too bubbly. But Kairo merely shook her hand.

“Nice to meet you. This is my assistant, AJ.” He introduced the purple haired girl to his left.

“Ms. Ejiri, very nice to meet you.” She bowed respectfully. Kyoko looked impressed.

“A fully AI assistant. Impressive. I read about your work on her, Dr. She truly is a marvel.” The woman complimented.

“She’s my pride and joy, alright. So uh, can you show us where we can stow our gear?” Kairo replied, not much for the whole small talk dance that seemed to be happening.

“O-of course, follow me.” Kyoko Ejiri seemed slightly thrown by Kairo’s blunt manner, but soon recovered and led the 2 of them to an elevator where they took several floors down.

“Once you’re settled, I’ll send one of the girls to fetch you for the briefing.” Kyoko explained, as the doors slid open.

“Do you have a lead to go on?” Kairo wondered.

“Our first step is to head to the Pink Fern. See if the team can uncover anything the locals may have missed.” She explained. Alright, fair. Kyoko kept talking as they walked down the hall, but Kairo’s attention was snapped away when two women appeared approaching them along the opposite hall, talking. The one on the right had pink hair and half of her head shaved and the other had dark blue, short hair and 2 different coloured eyes. But it wasn’t her looks that stunned him, it was the chain that hung around her neck. His eyes had been enhanced of course and he could see the ring at the end of the chain, dancing against her collarbone as she walked by. 

“Dr. Kojima? Are you alright?” A voice re-captured his attention as his hand instinctively went for the chain around his own neck, holding a ring of the exact same design. Kyoko looked slightly concerned, until Kairo cleared his throat.

“Y-yes, thank you.” He and AJ were shown to their rooms, side by side and left alone. AJ wanted to unpack and settle, Kairo dumped his bag onto the floor and fell onto the bed, still somewhat stunned. That girl…

“ _ It’s a coincidence, it has to be. Besides, Mira’s gone.”  _ He thought.

“But it’s her ring.” He said aloud to the walls. This burning ache built up inside of him, even though he had to face reality, the ring was likely a popular design and there was no correlation between the two whatsoever. The blue haired girl had been holding a bunch of files, odds were she was a desk girl and he’d never see her again. Slowly, he forced himself up and unpacked the few things he’d brought with him, one of which was his wedding hologram from work. If he could somehow get his head on straight, maybe this assignment would be a good thing for him after all.

**********************

“Hey.” Pandora walked past Titania and Aura on their way to the briefing room. Aura knew Dr. Kojima had arrived, she had seen him with some assistant or other walking with Kyoko, but dared not let herself hang around. It was bad enough they’d be face to face soon anyway.

“Kyoko just asked me to go fetch the doctor.” Dora wiggled her brows mischievously. Titania rolled her eyes. 

“I hear he’s a little broken and that, I dunno about you girls, but to me is a huge turn on.” She smirked.

“You know he’s a widower, right?” Titania asked. Dora nodded eagerly.

“The best kind of broken. And I bet it was something tragic too, like cancer or a snake bite…”

“It was a car crash. Didn’t you do any reading on him beforehand?” Titania interjected.

“Car crash. I’ll take it.” Pandora pointed to Titania.

“You’re a sick woman, Dora.” Aura chuckled, but inside, she suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe. As Dora took off, Aura faced the younger girl.

“A car crash? I-I fell asleep last night, I didn’t get to the reading.” She fibbed. Titania nodded.

“Horrible story. They were going away for the weekend together, he and his wife Mira Hoshi.” Aura almost had to sit down with the level of shock that jolted through her.

“M-Mira?” Why was she doing this to herself? That  _ name.  _ The one she kept hearing. 

“Mhm. They were both biotechs with Alpha Synthetics. Anyway there was this huge crash, the other car was driving on the wrong side of the road, the car burst into flames and Dr. Kojima was the only survivor and even then he had to have one of his arms repaired.” Aura only half heard what Titania was saying after that. Mira Hoshi, Kairo Kojima.

“ _ Do you Kairo Kojima take Mira Hoshi to be your lawful wedded wife?” _

_ “I do.” _

_ “And do you, Mira Hoshi, take Kairo Kojima to be your lawful wedded husband?” _

_ “I do.”  _ That wasn’t her! It sounded nothing like her!

“ _ Who did you used to be?”  _ It was all making too much sense.

“...four years ago now…” Titania was still talking.

“Wh-what, wait, back up… what was four years ago?” She demanded.

“The accident.” Titania looked a little bewildered at Aura’s sudden behaviour change. Aura let out a shaky breath. The fourth anniversary of when she woke up in the restoration facility was soon approaching. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

“ _ Oh my God…”  _ It was making more and more sense. As they reached the briefing room, Aura felt like she had to vomit, if she were physically able to. 

“Are you ok? You look like you’ve seen a ghost and you don’t even have real skin.” Titania observed as Aura sank into a chair. 

“I-I don’t know…” She answered truthfully, trying to calm her insides. It seemed impossible, even when Kyoko entered the room and asked her the same thing.

“I was telling her about Dr. Kojima and she just started getting all panicky.” Kyoko’s little sister explained. Kyoko nodded.

“It’s alright. Aura, do you think you’re ok to sit through this, or do you need some air?” She asked. Aura never gave her answer as Pandora returned with Dr. Kojima and a purple haired girl, fully AI by Aura’s analysis. She tried as hard as she could to avoid Dr. Kojima’s gaze as he sat directly across from her. She had to keep her feelings to herself. Maybe she was this Mira person, maybe not. But what mattered now was the mission at hand. It wasn’t a lot to go on, but the team had to gear up and get ready to go. Dr. Kojima and his assistant AJ were introduced, but Aura’s mind was miles away. She needed to escape that room ASAP, but just as she was making her getaway upon dismissal, she heard

“Hey! Wait up!” Freezing in her spot, Dr. Kojima caught up to her.

“I-I wanted to catch you to ask a question.” Kairo felt a lump form in his throat, but he had to put his mind to rest on the matter. Aura felt her defenses fly up as he pointed to the ring hanging around her neck.

“The ring. Where’d you get it?” He wondered. Aura paused, looking him up and down, finally settling on his emerald gaze. She knew those eyes, she couldn’t deny it. They matched those of her visions, her dreams. She had to be Mira. That so, she had to choose her words carefully. She was unsure of way too much all of a sudden and she didn’t like it. 

“I um… I don’t know. I was in a horrible car crash almost four years ago and when I woke up, I had no memory and a brand new body. The ring was the only thing of my personal effects that survived the fire. I wear it because it’s the only thing I have left that ties me to whoever I used to be.” She swallowed hard, as Kairo’s green eyes widened in fright.

“C-can I see it?” He suddenly asked. Aura took a step back.

“Why?” She demanded, suspiciously. What happened next only cemented her fears. Kairo Kojima yanked a chain above his own shirt, with an identical ring on the end. Aura muffled a gasp.

“Because I have one too. The same kind.” Terrified now, Aura undid the clasp and handed the chain to Kojima. He took a small UV pen light from his pocket and shone it on the inside of Aura’s ring. 

“What are you doing?” Aura asked, her voice faltering, slightly. Kairo let out a pained sound and dropped the pen light, and almost the chain. 

“It’s hers… the engraving… KK & MH...Kairo Kojima and...Mira Hoshi…” He choked out. No. it couldn’t be. But everything lined up. Her story, his story… the rings… Kairo’s green eyes welled with tears, just the smallest seed of hope sprouting in his heart. Could Mira, his Mira be trapped inside that synthetic body? It was crazy, outrageous, not to mention bloody impossible.

“But how else do you want to explain it?” Aura grabbed the necklace from him.

“My name is Aura. I’m an Artemis agent. Whoever I used to be doesn’t matter anymore.” She decided, firmly, purely because she was scared. Kairo stood, stunned.

“Mira?” He asked in utter disbelief, gazing at her studiously. 

“Stop it! I’m not her!” Aura cried, though she herself now knew it had to be true, all of it.

“Is that synthetic?” He asked, his voice thick with emotion as he pointed to her violet eye. Aura shook her head.

“It survived.” She slowly replied.

“Then it is you. 100% you. I’d know her eyes anywhere. I know she’s in there somewhere now. Please, just say I’m right… I can’t…” He trailed off, tears spilling down his cheeks. In some ways, this was more cruel than believing her dead. He had so many questions, as did she, but both knew the truth, however much they wanted to deny it and call it impossible.

“Wheels up in ten, team!” Kyoko suddenly came through her neural link. 

“I’m sorry.” Aura turned to run, but Kairo stopped her, pushing a flash drive into her hand.

“Please. Watch it.” He pleaded, his eyes looking so sad. Aura said nothing, as she turned and ran to get ready, her mind racing a mile a minute. By the time she realized she was crying, she was sobbing against her closed room door.

_ “You told me not to worry. They’re both onto the truth. I warned you.” _

_ “It’ll be fine, trust me. Artemis covered their tracks well, four years ago. Even if they accept that she used to be Mira Hoshi, it won’t be for long. I’ll make sure the operation goes down with a few casualties. I promise, daddy.” _


End file.
